Karachi:
It’s crunchy again when Pakistan takes on India today, and the world’s focus is about to change from everything else to Dubai Cricket Stadium for the High-Octane Champions Trophy Clash.
So what will it be like this time? Who wins and who will lose? Any predictions?
“You dare not speculate” will always be the answer from the wiser critics and knowledgeable fans and for good reason.
The nature of the competitions between the two Asian cricketing giants has a random, unpredictable rhythm with steep troughs and chambers that continue to keep the two governments, cricket managers, players and fans on the edge always.
So no matter what happened in the past between the two teams, how they have managed each other of late, Pakistan’s routed start to the mega event and India’s amazing winning stroke in the ODDs, Babar and Shaheen’s Shoddy Workmanship and Gill and Shamis comeback -Heroik, the surprising statistics and astonishing calculations, the scandalous theories and confusing prophecies and al Logic boils down to nothing today as it is all flooded by the sea by emotions that immerse the bounded boundaries between a sporting soil and a battlefield.
At best, the nature of today’s Marquee clashes might be compared to British philosopher Bertrand Russell’s famous paradox: ‘Consider a set that contains all sets that do not contain themselves.’
Although Pakistan has in the past few decades acquired a reputation for being ‘Mercurial’ and ‘unpredictable’, which undoubtedly adds a touch of romance to their cricket, the critics feel that they are now being victims of such stereotype.
To put it briefly, they have either played for some diabolic game plan or none at all. The electrifying body language that won the hearts and matches of the 2017 Champions Trophy has been completely missed. The shoulders have fallen too soon and the players have turned out to be beaten; Desperate after victory can be, but certainly not hungry.
The harsh truth is that they have been guilty of playing thoughtless and unprofessional cricket over the past 10 days, especially against New Zealand, and lost three games to them on trot with only a freakish, unlikely victory against proteeas that saves the blushes for them.
That said, Mohammad Rizwan and his men will definitely take the heart of Grand Fightback by Bangladesh against Rohit Sharma’s men in Thursday’s match. From being down in the dumps of 35 for 5, they roared back like Royal Bengal Tiger to place a very decent 228 eventually.
As for India, they have a very definite side that boasts a star-studded batting-line-up and a versatile bowling attack in Shami and the three spinners. Their drubbing of formidable England at home in the Champions Trophy structure series will also be a great moral booster for them as they take the pitch today.
But of course, they will be wary of Pakistan’s 3-2 record in the ICC Champions Trophy against them, as well as the team Green’s adrenaline Rush -considering its head in a pair of overs.
